The Ultimate Guide to Ketosis

Most of our lives we’ve been told the primary source of energy for our bodies is sugar. However, there is a more efficient source of fuel that is rarely utilized: ketones.

When the body metabolizes fat it produces ketones, which are then used by cells to power their normal functions.

Ketosis is the metabolic state of having ketones in the blood, typically above 0.5mmol/L. The purpose of a ketogenic diet is to eat in such a way (high fat, adequate protein, low carb) that it induces your body into ketosis.

The scientific community is constantly revealing the inner workings and potential applications of a ketogenic diet. Currently, many people opt for ketosis to enhance their mental performance, exercise, body composition, mood, or disease prevention and therapeutic benefits.

What is Ketosis?

Ketosis is the metabolic process of using fat as the primary source of energy instead of carbohydrates. This means your body is directly breaking down its fat stores as energy instead of slowly converting fat and muscle cells into glucose for energy. You enter ketosis when your body doesn’t have enough glucose (carbohydrates) available. The prime function of the ketogenic diet is to put the body in ketosis.

Ketones are byproducts of the body breaking down fat for energy that occurs when carbohydrate intake is low.

How Ketosis Works

Step 1) Cutting Off Carbs

When there isn’t a sufficient level of available glucose and glycogen levels are depleted, blood sugar and insulin levels decrease, and the body looks for an alternative source of fuel (fat).

Step 2) Breaking Down Fats

The body breaks down fats for energy. This process is known as beta-oxidation, where there is an increase in acetyl-CoA, which turns into acetoacetate. Acetoacetate then shifts to beta-hydroxybutyrate, the ketone body that floats around in your blood to then provide energy to the body and brain.

Step 3) Using Ketosis

Many people use ketosis for benefits like:

Weightloss: When your body is using fat directly as a source of energy, you lose weight more readily because your body taps into your own fat stores for energy instead of the sugar you eat.

Improved energy levels: Without surges of glucose, your body has more consistent energy levels because you can use your own body fat for energy (no sugar crashes or food comas).

Increased mental focus: Fat is a more consistent source of energy, and preferred by the brain, meaning you don’t have ups and downs in energy and focus.

Longevity and disease prevention: Ketosis has been shown to decrease inflammation, Alzheimers, and benefit cancer patients and diabetics.

Ketones

Types of Ketones

The Process of Creating Ketones

Acetoacetate is the first ketone created from breaking down fat. This then leads to the formation of Beta-hydroxybutyrate. Acetone is created spontaneously as a side product of acetoacetate via decarboxylation.

Why Our Bodies Use Ketones

Humans have always relied on ketones for energy when glucose sources were scarce (i.e. no fruits available during winter). It is a normal state of metabolism. In fact, most babies are born in a state of ketosis. However, with abundant sources of carbohydrate, people rarely access ketosis and it becomes a dormant metabolic pathway.Our ancestors likely had frequent periods of time when high carbohydrate food wasn’t immediately available. For this reason, our bodies are amazing at adapting to burning of ketones for fuel.

Weight Loss Benefits of Ketosis

Hormone Regulation: Ketosis can help sustain weight loss by regulating hormones that affect weight. That means eating a ketogenic diet can help you avoid cravings for unhealthy foods, reducing the chance of gaining the weight back.

Exogenous Ketones

What Are Exogenous Ketones?

Exogenous ketones are a supplement used for boosting performance and energy, or complementing a low carb diet designed for weight loss. They are ketones you can consume that your body isn’t directly making. However from your cell’s perspective, they cannot tell the difference.

Recall that fats break down into ketones, which are then used as fuel by the body. Exogenous ketones are ketones that come from outside the body.

How to Use Exogenous Ketones

Use exogenous ketones to increase the ketone (energy) levels in your body which will:

Transition you into ketosis faster, which help with symptoms of the “keto-flu”

Boost energy at anytime of day (during work or exercise)

Get back into ketosis after eating carbohydrates

Suppress appetite in between meals or during a fast

Reduce inflammation

Increase mood and mental performance

Benefits of Exogenous Ketones

Higher Ketone Levels: Especially in the morning or between meals, ketones boost your body into an effortless fat burning mode.

Physical Performance: Ketones before and during workouts give you energy and decrease need for oxygen.

Improved Overall Wellbeing: Ketones help you get into ketosis for benefits from enhanced well-being, to disease prevention and longevity.

How To Start Taking Exogenous Ketones

For those new to ketosis, our bodies aren’t used to running on ketones, so expect anadjustment period. Try 1⁄4 scoop first, heavily diluted in water (which will also help with the taste).

Transitioning to ketosis removes water from our bodies, so getting lots of water will help with any dehydration and stomach issues. Increase your exogenous ketone intake from there.

When to Take Exogenous Ketones

In the morning or between meals for a sustained energy boost.

Before or during exercise as a no-carb energy boost. Try our Pre-Workout supplements for an even bigger boost to your workouts.

During the day for peak mental performance and sharper focus (Try mixing it in your coffee or tea).

After eating a meal that knocks you out of ketosis (eg. high carbs) to transition yourself back into ketosis.

Notes on Exogenous Ketones For Weight Loss

Exogenous ketones are very effective supplements, but none the less, should be supplementary to a low carb/ketogenic style of eating that is geared towards weight loss (if weight loss is the goal).

Exogenous ketones don’t cause weight loss, they help cause ketosis. In other words, they don’t directly make you burn fat, but can help make it much easier to incorporate a lifestyle that leads to fat loss.

Ketosis is a metabolic state where your body is using fatty acids for its primary source of energy. Using fat for fuel does not automatically guarantee weight loss. It all depends on how much fat and protein you are eating, in addition to being below a carb threshold that will induce ketosis.

The Ketogenic Diet

What is the Ketogenic Diet

The ketogenic diet is an approach to eating that is high fat (70-80%), moderate protein (20-25%) and low carb (5-10%). This is designed to induce the body into ketosis. The quality and types of foods are vitally important for crafting a nourishing ketogenic diet.

Carbohydrate Intake

For most people, a range of 20-50 grams of carbohydrate intake per day is ideal for the keto diet. To get a visual understanding, see our post, What Does 30g of Carbs Look Like?

Protein Intake

Protein should be kept to adequate proportions. Eating too much protein is undesirable because our bodies have a metabolic process named gluconeogenesis. The way to figure out adequate protein levels is by using the Perfect Keto Macro Calculator.

Fat Intake

The remaining 70-75% of your calories come from fats. Since fat is the main source of nutrition on a ketogenic diet, it’s important to source high-quality, healthy fats.

Optimal nutrition is intensely individual, it is not a one-size-fits-all prescription. Therefore, each persons macronutrient distribution will vary.

How to Test Ketones

Testing your ketone levels is imperative in order to know if keto is working for you. Eating “keto” foods doesn’t automatically mean you are in ketosis. Ketosis is that it’s not just an idea, it is a measurable state of metabolism.

Luckily this means we can test if our diet is adequately “ketogenic” to allow our bodies to enter ketosis. Excess carbs or protein can prevent ketosis. It’s a high fat diet, not just low carb.

There are 3 methods for measuring ketone levels. They are:

Urine Testing – When ketone levels in your body increase past a useful point, they get excreted through urine. You can easily measure excess amounts of ketones with a urine strip. It’s easy to test at home, but not completely reliable.

Blood Testing – You prick a finger and squeeze a drop of blood onto a test stick to test the amount of the ketone called Beta-Hydroxybutyrate in your blood. This is the most accurate method for testing your body’s ketone levels, but the most expensive.

Breath Testing – You can measure the amount of acetone in your breath using a breath meter. This is the least reliable method of testing for ketosis.

Reading Your Results

Blood ketone tests measure the amount of beta-hydroxybutyrate (BHB) in millimolar concentration. A urine or breath ketone test should also make it easy to convert its results to mmol.If your ketone levels are between 0.5 and 3.0 mmol, then your body is in a state of ketosis.

Safety

Ketosis is a perfectly safe and natural metabolic state, but it is often confused with another, and highly dangerous, metabolic state called Ketoacidosis.

Ketosis vs Ketoacidosis

Ketosis: The metabolic state when fat is the primary energy source instead of carbohydrates. Ketosis is a perfectly normal state of human metabolism. Without ketosis, all humans would have died many thousands of years ago in times of carbohydrate shortages, such as winter and drought.

Diabetic Ketoacidosis (DKA): A dangerous metabolic state that is most commonly seen in people with type 1 diabetes and sometimes type 2 diabetics if they aren’t properly managing their insulin and diet. The condition can be deadly if untreated.

Other Side Effects of Ketosis

Dehydration: Transitioning to ketosis is frequently a dehydrating process. This is because,

Glycogen and carbs are stored in the body with water. It takes 4 grams of water to store a gram of glycogen. As you deplete glycogen, you will lose water.